Superstition and decision-making: Contradiction or complement?

Academy of Management Executive

Volumn 18, Issue 4, 2004, Pages 92-105

  Tsang, Eric W K ^a  

^a WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 11044230920     PISSN: 10795545     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5465/ame.2004.15268696     Document Type: Review

References (60)

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5. Those respondents who did not engage in superstition cited reasons such as lack of proof behind the effectiveness of these services, letting nature take its course, too expensive, and against their religious beliefs.
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8. Smith, R. J. 1991. Fortune-tellers and philosophers: Divination in traditional Chinese society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Other reports of the return of superstition to Mainland China are: Ignatius, A. "Six evils" are far from eradicated in this remote city-China's crusade against vices is faltering in Wenzhou; superstition is rampant. Wall Street Journal, 5 January 1990; Ching, F. 1994. A society in transformation. Far Eastern Economic Review, 157(39): 36; Ziegler, D. 2000. China: The return of the "four olds." Economist, 355(8165): CS12.
9. Smith, R. J. 1991. Fortune-tellers and philosophers: Divination in traditional Chinese society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Other reports of the return of superstition to Mainland China are: Ignatius, A. "Six evils" are far from eradicated in this remote city-China's crusade against vices is faltering in Wenzhou; superstition is rampant. Wall Street Journal, 5 January 1990; Ching, F. 1994. A society in transformation. Far Eastern Economic Review, 157(39): 36; Ziegler, D. 2000. China: The return of the "four olds." Economist, 355(8165): CS12.
10. Smith, R. J. 1991. Fortune-tellers and philosophers: Divination in traditional Chinese society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Other reports of the return of superstition to Mainland China are: Ignatius, A. "Six evils" are far from eradicated in this remote city-China's crusade against vices is faltering in Wenzhou; superstition is rampant. Wall Street Journal, 5 January 1990; Ching, F. 1994. A society in transformation. Far Eastern Economic Review, 157(39): 36; Ziegler, D. 2000. China: The return of the "four olds." Economist, 355(8165): CS12.
11. Smith, R. J. 1991. Fortune-tellers and philosophers: Divination in traditional Chinese society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Other reports of the return of superstition to Mainland China are: Ignatius, A. "Six evils" are far from eradicated in this remote city-China's crusade against vices is faltering in Wenzhou; superstition is rampant. Wall Street Journal, 5 January 1990; Ching, F. 1994. A society in transformation. Far Eastern Economic Review, 157(39): 36; Ziegler, D. 2000. China: The return of the "four olds." Economist, 355(8165): CS12.
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16. Interestingly, virtually all the 57 managers admitted that what they engaged in were superstitions. It seems that the term superstition has fewer negative connotations among Chinese than Westerners. Although all the data were collected in Singapore and Hong Kong, the findings are likely to be generalizable to other Chinese societies, such as China and Taiwan, due to the homogeneity of Chinese culture, However, generalization to non-Chinese settings needs to be supported by further empirical research.
17. The assumption here is that one actually knows that the manager he or she is dealing with is superstitious. This assumption may not hold in reality. Nevertheless, a later section discusses some indications that a person is superstitious.
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20. For detailed information about the history and variety of Chinese superstitious practices, refer to Smith, op. cit. Although some of the managers in the fieldwork mentioned a couple of other superstitious practices, such as selecting an auspicious date, the four practices described here were used by all the 57 managers far more frequently than others.
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48. The purpose is to check whether your animal year or ba zi is in harmony with theirs.
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51. Chinese people have a tradition of visiting their friends and relatives during the first month of a year. They usually bring along some small gifts, such as biscuits and candies, with their visits. So there is a huge demand for these products during that period of time.
52. Of course, it is assumed here that you are not superstitious and so do not have another auspicious date in mind.
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